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When the crisis in the crown took off in early March, all opposition parties laid down their arms. Now the pendulum is swinging and various parties are criticizing how the government has managed the effects of the corona infection. The leader of the Christian Democrats party, Ebba Busch, believes that the government’s goal of protecting risk groups and preventing the closure of society as a whole was not wrong.
– But I have enough evidence to give a clear rejection of the plan to succeed with that goal, says Ebba Busch.
Why?
– It is not possible to delegate the political responsibility to implement and make decisions to achieve this objective at the local level – 290 municipalities and 21 regions. He is clueless and downright irresponsible.
Photo: Alexander Mahmoud
But such is the Swedish management model. How could the government have done otherwise?
– Much of the leadership that I have lacked has not had to do mainly with major organizational changes or legislative changes. The acclaimed coordination in Sweden only works in practice if there is clear leadership. Introduce some form of national general care that will be in charge of monitoring VAT seats, in order to distribute respirators and distribute total care resources where they are most needed. There is nothing that would have required a change in the legislation.
When the crisis started, did you support the government’s policy, is that something you regret today?
– No. What we managed to convey in the conversations with ministers, secretaries of state, economic policy and in the social committee, I don’t think they would have listened to us if we had stepped aside.
– In this situation, the best political responsibility was to acquire greater political powers. But they turned away from him, hiding behind the Swedish authorities and administration and pretended that he was putting more straitjackets on a prime minister and a country’s leadership than he actually does.
Is there something in the strategy that you would have done differently today?
– I am surprised that the precautionary principle did not weigh more this spring. That we do not take the safe before the unsafe with the ban on visiting nursing homes or forcing people who traveled to the affected areas to be quarantined.
Photo: Alexander Mahmoud
What responsibility do municipalities have in spreading the infection to nursing homes?
– When compared to Norway, in terms of the proportion of how large the infection has been in the country and how many older people have been affected, the relationship is roughly the same. The fact that we have seen many more older people who have been affected and lost their lives is based on the fact that, in general, we have allowed a much greater degree of spread of the infection in society. It cannot be ruled out that this is a national issue.
Christian Democrats are responsible for the care of the elderly in Stockholm, what responsibility do you have in spreading the infection to nursing homes in Stockholm?
– In Stockholm, they chose to introduce a restraining order on nursing homes long before the national ban came. There, we ourselves have criticized whether we should have made that decision earlier. We also didn’t want to get involved in shutting down people. But we have wondered if the municipality or KD should not have made that decision much earlier.
– Then there were also deficiencies in the cooperation between the municipality and the region, and we are part of both. There is much to refine.
Do you think the Alliance can resurface in relation to the 2022 elections?
– It’s almost like I don’t even understand the question. There is a well-founded bourgeois community of values between the four bourgeois parties. But two of them support a social democratic leadership, with the results we see in elderly care, employment and unemployment, and security issues. It is a complete milestone, while two bourgeois parties constitute the opposition and a new way forward for Sweden. I want to see a resumption of cooperation, but it is not possible. They are now negotiating a budget with Stefan Löfven.
How do you see the conditions to cooperate with the Center, have there been very harsh words between you?
– Whenever they want to negotiate policies based on a new direction for Sweden and a bourgeois prime minister for Sweden, we do.
Photo: Alexander Mahmoud
Are there such conditions?
– We defend a genuinely bourgeois path, so whenever you want to talk about bourgeois politics with a bourgeois prime minister, we just do it. But then C has to choose another path.
– The same goes for liberals. L is perceived by many to be more open-minded, but this is not an issue where it can be 60 percent for a bourgeois government and 40 percent for a government led by S. It is a black and white question. Either you have a social democratic prime minister or you have a bourgeois prime minister and no one should doubt what we want.
What government and cooperation do you see in front of you after 2022?
– We are very confident in the answer and it is together with the moderates that we now have a very close collaboration. With them we want to form a government. Both parties have the same attitude on the issue that we can negotiate and cooperate with all parties. I think this is a prerequisite in practical terms for all governments in the future if something is to be done.
Photo: Alexander Mahmoud
What does it say to those who claim that there is now a conservative bloc, consisting of M, KD and SD?
– Without getting caught up in the awkward discussion about which label to put on, it is quite obvious that we are the opposition in Sweden. So it is we and M who form the nucleus of a bourgeois government, which I see will have quite a few negotiations in front of me with the Swedish democrats. Especially since we see the same reality when it comes to problems of insecurity and deficiencies in well-being.
– Then we see more and more issues where it is easy to cooperate with the liberals to find several constructive points where we can do politics together.
What do you mean by easy to collaborate with L?
– We are easy to find, as long as it does not affect the budget. So they get caught up in their choice to support S and Stefan Löfven. Liberals are bourgeois friends and we would like to see more of that cooperation, but it can never be complete unless they say they want another prime minister.
